The Great Land Grab: Why Billionaires Are Racing to Buy American Farmland 🚜🐄
Hey Seedlings,
Something massive is happening in America's heartland, and most people have no idea.
While the media fixates on Bill Gates's farmland purchases, the real story is much bigger - and more concerning.
BTW Gates now owns more farmland than the entire Native American nation!
and is quoted as saying,
"Land is power, land is wealth, and, more importantly, land is about race and class. The relationship to land – who owns it, who works it, and who cares for it – reflects obscene levels of inequality and legacies of colonialism and white supremacy.”
🌾 The State of American Farming:
From 6 million farms to just 1.9 million in 80 years
65% of family farms have disappeared
Big agricultural companies now control 50%+ of US crop output
Small farmers produce less than 15% of output
💰 The Billionaire Land Rush:
Bill Gates: 250,000 acres across 17 states (#42 largest landowner)
Jeff Bezos: 400,000 acres (#25 largest landowner)
Ted Turner: Millions of acres (#3 largest landowner)
Emerson Family: Over 2 million acres (#1 largest landowner)
Wanna truly understand the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?
Let me break this down in a really simple and fun way that a 6th grader would understand.
⌛ Think about time:
A million seconds = about 11.5 days
A billion seconds = about 31.5 YEARS!
💲 Let's make it even simpler with money:
If you spent $1 every second:
To spend a million dollars would take about 11 days
To spend a billion dollars would take over 31 years!
💵 Another way to picture it:
If you stacked $1 bills:
A million dollars would be about the height of a 3-story building
A billion dollars would be as tall as the TALLEST mountain in the world!
🪜 One more fun example:
If each dollar was a step:
A million steps would take you across your state
A billion steps would take you around the Earth more than 15 times!
❗So remember:
A million is a really big number (1,000,000)
But a billion is WAY, WAY bigger (1,000,000,000)
A billion is like a million multiplied by a thousand!
🗓️ The easiest way to remember:
If you counted from 1 to a million, it would take you about a week. If you counted from 1 to a billion, it would take you almost a century!
But back to the billionaires - why are they buying farmland 🤔
Two reasons:
Farmland has appreciated 400% in 25 years
Control of food and water provides a hedge against geopolitical uncertainty
📈 The Investment Case:
Average cropland value: $5,500/acre
Pasture land value: $1,900/acre
Highest values: Iowa, Illinois, Great Plains
Lowest values: Mountain states
🚨 Warning Signs to Watch:
Commodity prices are down 30-60% from pandemic highs
This could pressure land values
Historical precedent: 1980s saw a 60% crash in Iowa farmland
Many current purchases are heavily leveraged
💹 Beyond the Numbers:
This isn't just about investment returns.
We're witnessing the largest consolidation of American farmland in history.
❓ Big questions loom:
Who will control our food supply?
What happens to rural communities?
Can small farmers survive?
🌍 How You Can Get Involved:
Foreign Ownership Surprise
Despite media headlines about China, they own less than 1% of foreign-held US farmland. The real top foreign owners are:
Canada
Netherlands
Italy
UK
👉 What's Next:
As commodity prices fall and leverage remains high, we could see significant changes in farmland ownership.
But one thing's certain: the rush for control of American farmland isn't slowing down.
What do you think about this consolidation of farmland ownership?
Reply and let me know your thoughts - and subscribe if you’ve not yet, cos why not?
Until next week,
Jas
Jason Allan Scott